1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a hood hinge apparatus for a vehicle, by which crash performance can be improved in case of a front offset collision.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, according to vehicle safety regulations to be executed in Europe and North America in 2014, front/offset crash performance has been improved.
As part of active adaptation to the enhancement in front/offset crash performance, the occurrence of a collision between a hood hinge and an A-pillar needs to be remedied.
It is also necessary to prevent injury of a passenger due to excessive dipping caused by vehicle-body bending of a front portion of the hood hinge.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are a perspective view and a side view of a hood hinge apparatus according to prior art, in which the hood hinge apparatus includes a fixed hinge bracket 2 engaged by a bolt to a cowl-side body 1, a movable hinge bracket 3 engaged to a hood 5, and a hinge pin 4 through-coupled to a top end of the fixed hinge bracket 2 and an end portion of the movable hinge bracket 3, such that the hood 5 is opened and closed by rotation of the movable hinge bracket 3.
However, an A pillar 6 and the cowl-side body 1 are connected in perpendicular to each other and a height-wise step between the A-pillar 6 and the body 1 is large, such that in case of a front collision, the hood hinge directly collides with the A-pillar 6 and much collision energy is generated between the hood hinge and the A-pillar 6 without being transferred from the cowl-side body 1 to the A-pillar 6.
As a result, due to generation of the body bending, excessive dipping in the shape of V occurs, increasing passenger's injury.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.